A320 captain reported an air return due to a fume event during initial climb.

Attributes
ACN	1725168
Time
Date	202002
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

After takeoff from ZZZ we noticed an unusual odor like wet socks as we continued the climb the odor never dissipated. We leveled off at FL280; I gave controls of aircraft to [the] first officer and called dispatch/maintenance. I was told there was a previous write up; but were not able to duplicate. After consulting with both it was determined to return to ZZZ. An overweight landing was performed approximately 3;400 lbs over and touchdown was less than 200 FPM. Upon reaching gate maintenance came aboard and at that point I was informed for the first time that apparently some blades were changed not sure if maybe some residual oil/grease might have been left and got into the system? I was surprised that maintenance control center didn't know that maintenance had been done on that day.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported an air return due to a fume event during initial climb.

Narrative: After takeoff from ZZZ we noticed an unusual odor like wet socks as we continued the climb the odor never dissipated. We leveled off at FL280; I gave controls of aircraft to [the] First Officer and called Dispatch/Maintenance. I was told there was a previous write up; but were not able to duplicate. After consulting with both it was determined to return to ZZZ. An overweight landing was performed approximately 3;400 lbs over and touchdown was less than 200 FPM. Upon reaching gate Maintenance came aboard and at that point I was informed for the first time that apparently some blades were changed not sure if maybe some residual oil/grease might have been left and got into the system? I was surprised that Maintenance Control Center didn't know that maintenance had been done on that day.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.